SW: Spring Weather

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

Despite the chill in the air for the past few days, it was wonderfully exciting for the sun to shine bright and brilliant for most of the day, chasing away the lingering winter cold for a time. The warmth of the day made the perfect weather for the light kimono Nik decided to wear, celebrating Green Day. It was not her most beautiful or formal of the silk garments, but it matched the theme and was still sturdy enough to manage the day at Hammel.

Today, she was (again, it seemed) waiting for her husband to finish his lessons. He had one student left today, and if she recalled the story correctly, he was asking another student to participate. Though he'd been pleased with the idea, his wife secretly thought that surely pride goeth before the fall. As in, it wouldn't go nearly so swimmingly as he hoped.

Oh god, now she was punning. Spirit Week needed to be over yesterday.

It wasn't often that the doctor found herself without much to do, so rather than linger about her office and waiting for something to hold her up, she passed the keys off to the nurse and went outside to enjoy some of the sunshine. The pond was always nice, with its sparkling water and darting fish. The stone benches were usually cold, she'd brought a shawl to sit on, so that was fine.

Walking up, though, brought a different sight to to ghostly woman. "Oh, hello!" she greeted. "Am I intruding?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Given that Green Day was a day coordinated around a color, the staff had expected the least amount of variety today. Even with Spirit Day tomorrow which required school colors, white and blue provided far more variety, both because each was used more frequently in clothing design, as well as because there were two colors rather than one; besides, students would also find a way to work the husky mascot into outfits, and, if past experience provided any indication, several would do something with the letter “H” or else try to represent their powers through design.

Sean liked Spirit Day.

However, despite the overall subdued nature of today’s theme, he had spied more than one person dressed like a punk rocker. Inwardly, he had laughed about it. His outfit hadn’t included that level of creativity – instead he wore a deep green shirt and matching socks, a green checkered tie, and a green vest in addition to his typical black suit jacket and trousers.

This afternoon, after his sessions had ended and the Gay-Straight Alliance had met, the psychiatrist found himself with some time on his hands. He and Josh were going out tonight, and thus he needed to pick his partner up from the office, but that wouldn’t be for another forty minutes. Since Sean had finished his paperwork, and the weather was gorgeous, this brought him outside with a copy of the newspaper.

He had just finished one article and was about to start another when he felt a presence behind him. He turned his head just as Nakia arrived, and he offered her a smile. “Not at all. Please, sit.” With that, he scooted over on the bench to make more room.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

The fact that Green Day had seen a number of its students dressed in black and arm warmers rather than... well, green... was a pun that had surprisingly not been lost on the Japanese woman. She hadn't thought of it, but seeing the students had made her smile despite the various minor injuries from studs and hanging chains (which had not been explicitly stated as being prohibited, but come on). While she liked the wordplay in that form, her mental joke had been bad enough to almost make her groan aloud. But it was a nice irony for the day.

Seeing the psychiatrist sitting there had been a welcome surprise; it wasn't often he was seen outside his office or the faculty lounge when he was on campus, so it was nice that he was enjoying the sun while it was out.

"Oh, you don't have to move for me," Nik assured him, but it was unlikely that he was going to take his spot back just because she objected, so the younger administrator sat without further preamble, quietly thankful for the still-warm seat. Flashing him a grateful and delighted smile, Nik gestured to his ensemble. "It's a nice look on you. Did you shop specifically for it, because you look very coordinated."

Since she wasn't using the shawl as a cushion, the pale woman unfolded it and rested it over her head, protecting the tender skin of her scalp and face from the sun's rays even as she enjoyed the warmth. The water of the pond sparkled in the afternoon, and the fish seemed to dance beneath the surface. It was a lovely and quiet moment, even with the background noise of students across campus enjoying the day. A moment to just breath and be, and be grateful for the greenery all around.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sometimes, in the good weather, Sean took his lunches outside, but with the slew of students he had had over the past few months, the psychiatrist had forgone eating outside to catch up on paperwork during his lunch breaks. He, too, found it nice to be able to enjoy the courtyard for once. He would have time tomorrow as well, with the Spirit Day festivities, but, as a faculty member, he would have to supervise the students to make sure nobody became too rough with the water balloons or crossed the boundaries.

He smiled at the compliment. “Thank you.” Then, with the question, he shook his head. “I’ve had this for a while. I haven’t gone carousing on Saint Patrick’s Day in a long time, but I’m traditional enough to dress up for the occasion.” And to have more than one outfit so that he didn’t wear the exact same outfit year in and year out.

That wouldn’t be how he dressed for the International Day with the Multicultural Club, but that would be a fashion decision for next month.

Folding his newspaper and setting in his lap, he then leaned back. “I’d say that Spirit Week has been a success over all.” It was good to see the students and the staff both with the opportunity to enjoy themselves. With the atmosphere in town, he thought everyone needed the outlet all the more.

[Dr. Nik Kenjutsushi]

"You're very welcome." The explanation made sense; Sean seemed like one of those people who had a very Japanese mindset about a lot of holidays. (That is, any reason was a good reason to throw a party and/or celebrate.)

Nik gave him an amused look at the mention of his old partying days (in a manner of speaking). "That must have been a sight to see," she mused. "You, dressed in green and celebrating St. Patrick's Day. In New York City of all places, too - I'm almost sorry I missed those years. I feel like you would have been quite the entertainer, as always."

Because while those days may be in the past, that certainly didn't mean that Dr. Neville didn't know how to liven up a party.

"Quite." The Japanese woman smirked, remembering all the costumes that she'd seen throughout the week. "It was a very good turn-out. Feels like it just made everyone's year, honestly. I didn't expect nearly so many of the staff to join in, and the students seem to love it." She herself had enjoyed the planning and dressing up, even if she couldn't get her daughters into it for one reason or another. But Cassi's school would be having their Spirit Week in June, so there was that.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

One aspect of assorted cultures that never failed to fascinate Sean was how similar many mindsets were, at least in some respect. What Nakia considered a Japanese mindset about holidays, his family considered an Irish one. After all, the Irish were notorious for celebrations, up to and including wakes, the gut-wrenching depression of Irish theater and Irish literature notwithstanding.

The psychiatrist smiled and nodded his head a single time. “I was very entertaining in my youth.” Despite all ribbing from Greg about how little fun he was for his more subdued personality and tendency to plan ahead; still, he doubted that most of his coworkers would recognize him in his bellbottom jeans, with his sideburns and earring. Many of his coworkers, despite knowing that he could pack away alcohol with the best of them, surely would be surprised to know that he was no stranger to pot smoking back in the day. But he considered that a young person’s habit, outside of chronic pain management (and, even then, he supported attempts to distill the benefits without the high).

He nodded again, and his smile shifted from one of humor to approval. “It’s been encouraging to see how many people turned out for it this week.” He planned to use this with Yvette to encourage some more activities like this; it would do the students and the faculty well.